Thomas Patrick Donovan (23 December 1936 – 11 March 2018) was a New Zealand

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

and

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. He represented his country in boxing at the

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

and 1964 Olympic Games, and won bronze medals at the

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

. He also played representative rugby for .

Early life and family

Born in

Napier Napier may refer to: People * Napier (surname), including a list of people with that name * Napier baronets, five baronetcies and lists of the title holders Given name * Napier Shaw (1854–1945), British meteorologist * Napier Waller (1893–19 ...

on 23 December 1936, Donovan was the son of Tommy Donovan, who won the 1927 New Zealand amateur featherweight boxing title, and then had 46 professional bouts between 1929 and 1935. Paddy Donovan grew up on his family's farm at Meeanee, and was educated at

St John's College, Hastings , established = 1941; years ago , type = State Integrated, Single-sex, Day, Secondary (Year 9–13) , denomination = Catholic , principal = George Rogers , fees ...

, where he was head boy.

Boxing

Donovan won his first national amateur boxing title, in the featherweight division, in 1954, while he was still at school. He went on to win the national lightweight title four times—in 1956, 1957, 1959, and 1962—and he was awarded the Jameson Belt for the most scientific boxer in 1956, 1959, and 1962. Donovan won the bronze medal in the men's 57–60 kg (lightweight) division at the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...

. Four years later at the

he again won the bronze medal in the same division. He competed at two

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, not making it past the first round of the lightweight division in

and

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, and was controversially omitted from the New Zealand team for the

1960 Olympics The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympi ...

1956 and 1964 Olympic results

Below is the record of Paddy Donovan, a lightweight boxer from New Zealand, who competed at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics: * Round of 32: lost to Toshihito Ishimaru (Japan) on points Below is the record of Paddy Donovan, a lightweight boxer from New Zealand, who competed at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics: * Round of 32: lost to Hector Pace (Argentina) referee stopped contest

Rugby union

A halfback and

first five-eighth In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

, Donovan played for the rugby union team between 1955 and 1959.

Later life and death

From 1962, Donovan worked as an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, retiring in 2012 after 50 years. In 2001, he established Ballydooley Cider Ltd on the family orchard. Donovan died in Napier on 11 March 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Paddy 1936 births 2018 deaths Sportspeople from Napier, New Zealand People educated at St John's College, Hastings Olympic boxers of New Zealand Boxers at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Boxers at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for New Zealand Boxers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1964 Summer Olympics New Zealand male boxers Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing Hawke's Bay rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Rugby union fly-halves New Zealand accountants New Zealand businesspeople Rugby union players from Napier, New Zealand Lightweight boxers 20th-century New Zealand people 21st-century New Zealand people